Results for "Quadrant"

They're the phones the most vocal minority demanded, pure Android on familiar Samsung and HTC hardware. They're also the phones the manufacturers refused to consider; HTC Sense and Samsung TouchWiz aren't merely window-dressing but core elements of the overall user-experience, so the argument went, and the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 wouldn't be the same without them. Now, then, with the Google Play Edition versions of both, we have the chance to see just how much that's true.

Qualcomm may have introduced the Snapdragon 800 processor a little while back, and while we suspect some may be wondering why we have yet to see any real announcements since that point in time, it seems there was an actual plan in action. Just to give a bit of background, the plan was to announce the goods and then have the parts out ahead of time to give developers time to build. That bit aside, we do have a bit of good news today as we have recently spent some time playing.

Apple's "flat" iOS 7 refresh has been previewed, with reportedly eyes-on leaks tipping a more matte finish to the iconography along with the potential for two different color schemes. The new interface, apparently demonstrated in early beta form to 9to5Mac and then mocked-up to bypass Apple's watermarking, uses the same slimline font as we've already seen Apple adopt at its WWDC 2013 venue, while the graphics do away with fake 3D effects and, in some cases, are changed completely.

It's all change for Microsoft and Xbox today, with the new Xbox One shaking things up in the gaming world and meeting Sony's PlayStation 4 challenge head-on. The Xbox One has a lot to live up to, though: the 360 held the best-selling console torch for some time, and that's something Sony would just love to steal away with the PS4. Join us after the cut as we run through the next-gen console and how it compares to the 360.

This week we've had the opportunity to have a peek at the newest smartphone from Verizon in the Pantech Perception, a device whose gesture abilities appear at first to outweigh its full suite of high-end specifications. While this device isn't exactly a match for the likes of the GALAXY S 4 from Samsung or the HTC One by any means, Pantech does appear to have created a solid device for the masses, and not one meant for the budget crowd they've so often tended to in the past.

The Samsung GALAXY S 4 has a tough act to follow. Its best-selling predecessor, the Galaxy S III, is arguably the most well-known of all Android handsets, the strongest competition to Apple's iPhone, and the automatic go-to device for many smartphone shoppers. While the GALAXY S 4 may look, at first glance at least, much like the phone that came before it, in actual fact almost everything has been changed, adding up to a hotlist of in-demanded technology. So, is the GALAXY S 4 more than the sum of its parts, or have recent high-profile devices like the HTC One stolen its thunder? Read on for the SlashGear review.

If you're planning on adding Facebook Home to your device this weekend, you might want to consider the positives and negatives of doing such a thing. If you've got an HTC First, you'll likely have purchased the device because you want Facebook on your device, and there's really not a whole lot you need to consider. If you're a Facebook user and have an Android device, you've got what might be a rather easy decision ahead of you.

The HTC First is not the Facebook Phone, but it's a Facebook Phone, and if you feel like we've been here before then you're not alone. Baking the core essence of Facebook Home - "putting people first" with a content-rich homescreen and tightly integrated messaging - into a dedicated handset, the First is the start of what we're told will be a series of Home "experience" devices. Problem is, HTC tried putting Facebook front and center once before, with the HTC Salsa and ChaCha, and neither found much favor among the socially-obsessed. Has the $99.99 First got what it takes to be our very best friend? Read on for the full SlashGear review.

Rugged smartphones meant for the trailblazer and the survivalist in all of us certainly aren’t rare, but it’s not very often that we get to review one. Kyocera recently announced the Torque, a mid-range smartphone that’s encased in a thick hard plastic shell that can absorb energy when dropped. It’s also water resistant and impervious to dust, and while the average hiker could easily take advantage of the device, the company also targets it towards construction workers and even parents who have small kids that can be more than a little rough with toys. Oh, and did we mention it’s Bear Grylls-approved?

It's been a tough few years for HTC, unsung victim of the Apple-Samsung smartphone war, and the new HTC One has a lot to do to fix that. The company has seen its place in Android dwindle from trailblazer to also-ran, as Samsung's cutting-edge hardware and vast marketing budget forced Galaxy to the fore. Solid phones like 2012's One X and One S failed to relight HTC's fire, and so it has done the only thing it can: raise its game much, much higher with the HTC One. We're back to the days of risk-taking hardware decisions and legitimately interesting software, but the big question is whether the One can pull it off. Read on for the full SlashGear review.